


The Five Fake Marriages

by grassangel



Series: Five sentence fic and other short formats [7]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: 3 Sentence Fiction, 5+1 Things, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-05 20:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16817617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grassangel/pseuds/grassangel
Summary: Five times Mary Watson née Morstan and Sherlock Holmes pretend to be married, engaged or otherwise in a relationship with each other for a case. (Plus one time they weren't.)





	The Five Fake Marriages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SamIAm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamIAm/gifts).



1.

Mary enjoys going on cases with Holmes, not that she would wish to do so with the regularity her husband does, but the excitement is sweet all the same. It is of even greater pleasure when she can be of unique use to Holmes, such as this evening where she is pretending to be Holmes’ wife in order to retrieve some papers of importance. There is a series of taps against her waist and Mary takes that as her cue to crumple to the floor in a faux faint, Holmes’s hands grasping at her arms in a show of concerned affection.

2.

If she were with John, Mary would welcome this particular presumption made by the inn-owner. Her current companion makes the situation, being mistaken as married to Sherlock Holmes, amusing rather than an affront to her sensibilities.  
“ _But_ ,” she thinks, looking at the spacious bed in the room they have been let, “ _it is not as if Holmes will be likely to sleep tonight with a mystery to occupy his mind._ ”

3.

Women’s talk is not necessarily gossip, but there are coy whispers that arise when Holmes calls upon her at this salon. The servant announces him and the reaction is what he is looking for apparently, an expression of triumph on his face as he escorts her out.

“We shall rat out this traitor my dear Mary, I am sure of it!” he whispers to her, grasping her hand and clasping it between them even only with servants observing their exit from the house.

4.

This wedding is far less spectacular than her own to John, but that is to be expected when it is planned as an elopement. Mary feels silly wearing a fashionable cream dress suited for a girl younger than her, as pretty as it may be, but it is almost worth it to see the feigned adoration flicker with actual surprise at her appearance. It's a shame the dress is later ruined as they lie in wait alongside John to catch the priest accepting bribes and the chase that ensues.

5.

Mary finds the politics of men abhorrent a majority of the time, but finds them bearable this time around as she signs her feigned signature. If signing her name as Holmes’ wife is what gets his client what is rightfully theirs and owed to her, then Mary will gladly suffer the laws of men and two hours practising the unfamiliar combination of names.

+1

It’s a hilarious mistake committed by one of her former students, an understandable one at that considering Holmes’ reticence towards his exploits being aired publicly and the limitations of her profession. She and Holmes barely make it back before bursting into laughter, his outburst more restrained than hers but he is nonetheless amused by being mistaken for her husband. It perhaps isn’t prudent for her to mention it wasn’t just John whom she was interested in knowing more about that first cab ride and that perhaps in some other world her student would have been correct but Holmes takes it well in his stride.

“Regardless of what happened or what could’ve happened, you are dear to me Mrs Watson, for being close to John,” he states, eyes still amused, “And immeasurably beloved for stepping into his place to keep me from my idylls when he is absent from both of us.” Holmes leaves shortly after, one of his Irregulars coming by with the information he was waiting for.

**Author's Note:**

> Someday I'll complete the full case-fics that go with these snippets.


End file.
